


The New Survivor

by Alien02



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Smut, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Gay Carl Grimes, Gay Male Character, Mild Language, Mild Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:01:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29164629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alien02/pseuds/Alien02
Summary: My name is Thomas Riley. I was completely alone. In a world of flesh-eating walking corpses, being alone was more dangerous than being alive. I did what I had to do to survive. I had no one. Until I ran straight into a woman, running towards her friends. My entire life changed afterwards. I found a new family. I found someone that I would come to love more than anyone else in the entire world. I wasn't alone anymore.(I only take credit for original characters or plotlines. Any rights to pre-existing characters and plot belong to AMC and their respective owners.)
Relationships: Abraham Ford/Sasha Williams, Bob Stookey/Sasha Williams, Carl Grimes/Original Male Character(s), Maggie Greene/Glenn Rhee, Rick Grimes/Michonne, Rosita Espinosa/Abraham Ford
Kudos: 9





	1. Prey

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody! I've been working on this fic for a while now, but I'm now starting to post it. I'm probably going to post all of the chapters I have written already all at once, and then add the rest as they come. This story will probably continue until the end of the Walking Dead TV show, or perhaps beyond. The chapter titles are taken from the shows episodes, just so you can know where this lines up in the shows timeline.

I was being chased by some walkers through an old warehouse, in the middle of the night. My gun was nearly empty and my hatchet wouldn’t be enough. I rushed out the back door and slammed it behind me. I kept moving and ran straight into a woman.

“I’m alive, don’t shoot!” she yelled. 

I trained my gun on her. I only had 2 bullets, but that isn’t important.

“I’m Andrea,” she said.

“Thomas,” I said.

“I need help,” she said.

“Why?” I asked.

“There’s a man. He’s trying to hurt my friends,” she said, “I need to get to their camp to warn them.”

“There’s about 8 walkers down that alley, I suggest we not be here when they come.” I walked past her. 

“Then let’s not go that way,” she said walking down another alley.

“Are you alone?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m alone,” I said. “Do you have any weapons?”

“Just my knife,” she said.

“Here,” I said. I reached to my hip and tossed her a small snub nose revolver.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Come on, let’s go,” I said.  
We turned into another alley and came face to face with two walkers. I swung and dug my hatchet into the scalp of one. I pulled it out and went after the other one. I jumped up and slammed my foot down on another’s head.

“How’d you learn to do that?” Andrea kept hounding me.

“My mom taught me, she was big into martial arts. You know, before,” I told her.

“What happened to her?” she asked.

“I had to kill her, before she turned. Same with my dad, same with my sister,” I confessed.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“It was a long time ago,” I told her.

We travelled the rest of the way to the prison. She told me about the woman who helped her, Michonne, a black samurai with dreadlocks. She told me about Rick, he used to be a sheriff. She kept going on about the group that she was trying to get back too. We got to a few bushes outside of the prison. The man with the eyepatch came up behind her and knocked her over. I clicked the hammer of my gun and aimed for his head.

“Don’t,” I said.

“I don’t want to hurt you, but you’re going to put down the gun and come with me,” he ordered.

“All I have to do is yell and Rick and his people will be on you like ants at a picnic.”

“I know you’re smarter than that,” he said.

“RICK!” I shouted, “Turn around and walk into the clearing.”

I helped Andrea back to her feet.

We walked into the clearing. Andrea held the gun pointed at the man as I killed the walkers coming towards us.

We walked into the gated field killing walkers as Rick and who Andrea described as Glenn and Daryl helped me to the gate with our new hostage.

Once we got to the courtyard, a boy about my age wearing a sheriff’s deputy hat ran out.

“Carl, get back,” Rick yelled at his son, “Maggie, help the boy inside.” 

I handed my gun to Daryl and walked into Cell Block C.

“Hi, I’m Maggie,” she introduced herself.

“I’m Thomas,” I told her.

“I’m gonna need to take your axe and check you for weapons,” Maggie said.

“No need.” I handed her my hatchet and pulled a pocket knife out of my back pocket.

“May I still check you?” Maggie asked.

“Go ahead, you can never be too careful,” I said.

“You’re all clear,” Maggie smiled.

A few minutes later Rick followed by Glenn and Andrea walked into the block. Rick came immediately to me, his hand resting on the handle of his Colt Python.

“He was very cooperative,” Maggie vouged, “He handed his weapons over willingly.”

“How many walkers have you killed?” Rick asked.

“Somewhere between 50 and 100.”

“How many people?” Rick continued.

“Four,” I said.

“Why?” 

“I had to kill my mom, my dad, and my sister before they turned,” I paused, “Then I killed the man who was responsible.”

Rick paused for a minute, “I’m Rick, welcome to the Prison,” He offered me a hand.

I couldn’t help but smirk. I gratefully shook his hand, “Thank you.”

“The woman holding the baby is Carol, the blonde one is Beth and the man with the crutches is Hershel,” Rick introduced me.

“What’s with the man with the eyepatch,” I asked.

“He’s the leader of a group called Woodbury,” Andrea told me, “He calls himself the Governor.”

I flinched at the thought of that place.

“Do you know about Woodbury?” Rick asked.

“I’ve never been there but I ran into a couple of people a while back saying it was a place I should avoid,” I replied.

“Daryl and Merle are keeping him in a cell in D block,” Michonne walked down the steps into the block.

“We need to take the Governor to the trade tomorrow,” Rick said.

“What trade?” Carol asked.

“When I met with the Governor he said that if we gave him Michonne he’d call a truce,” Rick paused looking at the floor.

“You weren’t going to go through with it were you?” Michonne asked.

“No, of course not,” Rick defended himself.“But now that we have the Governor we can trade him for a truce, at the meeting tomorrow.” 

“What can I do to help?” I asked.

“We barely know you,” Rick tensed.

“Rick? He helped Andrea get here, and he helped capture the Governor,” Hershel spoke.

“Hershel’s right,” Andrea said, “I wouldn’t be here without him.”

“Alright then. Merle, Daryl, Glenn, Andrea, Michonne, and I will go to the meeting tomorrow and have Hershel, Maggie, Beth, Carol, Carl, and you stay here,” Rick said.

“But dad?” Carl questioned.

Rick walked into the cell block with Carl.

“I need you to be safe,” Rick said, “Besides who else is gonna keep this place safe?”

Carl smiled.

Everyone went on with preparing for this meeting tomorrow.

Carl came up to me, “Hi.”

“Hi,” I said.

“I’m Carl,” he smiled at me.

“I’m Thomas,” I replied.

“I’m happy to have a kid my age these days,” Carl said. He sat down at one of the tables and motioned for me to sit next to him.

“Yeah, the last person my age I knew was my sister,” I sat down next to him.

“What happened to her,” Carl asked.

“She got killed,” I said, “There was a man named Joel Andrews. He stumbled into our camp. We thought he could be trusted.”

“What happened?” Carl kept pushing.

“In the middle of the night Joel attacked my family, slit their wrists. I had to kill my entire family and then I had to kill him,” I told him.

“I’m sorry.” He put a consoling hand on my shoulder.

“Alright,” Rick called from the block, “Daryl and Merle can’t watch the Governor all night. So, we’ll have shifts and we’ll change every 2 hours.”

“I’ll help,” I said.

“Alright,” Rick said, “I’ll watch him with you.”

“Can I have my gun back?” I asked.

“I don’t think we can trust you just yet,” Rick said.

Andrea walked to Rick and put her hand on his shoulder.

“I trust him, he helped me,” she reassured him.

“Alright,” Rick walked over to a table and handed me my pistol.

“Thank you.”


	2. This Sorrowful Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas has been accepted into the group. Him and Carl start to form an immediate bond, but things aren't going as smoothly as planned. (Major Character Deaths)

Hershel came into my cell early the next morning.

“Thomas, wake up,” Hershel said. There was a certain gentleness in his voice, “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” I smiled at him, “Thank you for vouging for me yesterday.”

“You’re welcome,” Hershel smiled back at me, “Everyone’s up already. Here are some fresh clothes.”

“Ok, I’ll be out in a minute.” I got dressed in the clothes that Hershel gave me. It was a faded long sleeve blue shirt, a pair of ripped blue jeans, and a brown leather jacket. It wasn’t much but it was better than the blood stained clothes I had previously.

I walked into the cell block and was greeted with a concerned face from Rick. 

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“The Governor’s gone, he took Michonne in the middle of the night,” Andrea said from the bench. She had a small gash on her forehead. Hershel held a bandage up to it and wrapped it.

“How long ago was it?” I asked.

“It was about 6 in the morning,” Andrea continued.

“Maybe if we leave now we can catch up to them,” I said.

“Alright,” Rick said, “Daryl, Thomas, Glenn. Go get her.”

Rick handed me my hatchet. He gave a little nod.

“Thank you,” I said graciously.  
______________________________________________________________________________

Daryl took the lead with Glenn and I close behind him. The trees started thinning. We came into a clearing. The Governor was holding Michonne’s sword, she had a set of cuffs on, about 50 yards ahead. As silently as we could we crept up on them. I jumped onto his back and used my weight to bring him down. Daryl raised his crossbow.

“Don’t move,” Daryl ordered. 

The Governor pushed me off him and trained his gun at the back of Michonne's head.

Daryl shot his crossbow into the Governor's arm. Leading him to drop his gun. I ran over and picked up the gun, then I helped Michonne back to her feet. Daryl marched right up to the Governor and punched him square in the jaw, knocking him out.

"Hey, you get her," Daryl directed me to help Michonne.

Once we made it back to the prison, Rick handcuffed the governor to a pole where everyone could see him.

"What do we do?" Glenn asked.

"We go on with the plan. We take him to the meeting in a couple of hours and we give him over." Rick paced around the complex.

"How do we stop him from coming back to kill all of us?" Beth asked. 

"We don't, we just need to be ready for when he does."

*

After Rick and the others went to deal with the Governor, I went back into the cell I slept in. I surveyed the small room, there was a bunk bed on one wall and a small shelf and a toilet on the other.

Carl crept up behind me, “What are you up too?”

“Just looking around.” I sat on the bed and motioned for him to sit next to me, “So Rick’s your dad. Where’s your mom?”

“She’s dead, she died giving birth to my sister Judith.” Carl’s voice trembled.

“I’m so sorry,” I put my hand on his shoulder in a small attempt to comfort him.

“It’s okay, I guess,” Carl paused, “I’m the one who had to do it.”

“Well Judith’s here now,” I gave him a small smile.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Carl smiled back at me.

“My sister’s name was Isabelle.”

“Did you know all of them before or did you meet after?” I asked.

“After,” Carl said, “My dad was shot before, he was in the hospital at the start. My mom and my dad’s best friend Shane took us out of Atlanta on a highway. There was a traffic pile up there, that’s where we met Carol, Glenn and Daryl. We made a camp outside the city, before it was overrun. That’s when my dad came back. The camp had sent a group to the city and they brought my dad back. After the camp we went to the CDC but that was a bust, so we went back onto the highway. Then we ended up at Hershel’s farm. It also got overrun. That’s how we ended up here. We lost people along the way. Shane, my Mom, Andrea’s sister Amy, a man named Dale. But you’re here now, so I guess it’s good we ended up here. Cause if we hadn’t you never would have found us.”

He paused for a second before he continued, “I’m glad you found us.”  
______________________________________________________________________________

Three hours later Rick returned with Glenn, Michonne, and Daryl. 

Daryl immediately stormed off into the tombs of the prison.

“Where’s Andrea?” I asked.

“Dead,” Glenn said, “So is Merle.”

“That son of a bitch killed em.” There was a look in Rick’s eyes. It was almost animal-like.

“We need to prepare for an attack,” Glenn said.

“He’s right,” Carol said.

“We can’t just sit here with our asses hanging out,” Maggie agreed.

“Rick?” Hershel asked.

Rick’s knees buckled and he toppled to the floor. Carl ran to his side, Maggie and Carol close behind.

“He’s bleeding.” Hershel removed a handkerchief from Rick’s leg, “It’s just a graze but he needs help.”

“Thank god that we got those medical supplies from the infirmary,” Beth said.

I helped Glenn get Rick onto a bed in one of the cells. Hershel pulled up a chair next to the bed and began working on Rick’s leg. It was a light graze but it would definitely leave a scar. From all the commotion the baby, Judith, I reminded myself, had started crying. Carl and I left the room to give Hershel some space. Carl walked over to the small cooling box-bed they had made for her. He picked her up and sat next to him at one of the tables in the middle of the room.

He motioned asking me if I wanted to hold her. I hadn’t held a baby in years. He put a rag on my shoulder and I took the baby from his arms. I slowly cradled her in my arms. Carl scooted up right next to me. Something about him just felt right.


	3. Welcome to the Tombs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrea and Merle were dead. The Governor was ruthless. The group is outnumbered, but they have luck on their side. We all held our breaths, waiting for Woodbury's next move.

It had been a few days since the meeting. The attack we had planned for seemed to loom over our heads. Once we thought the attack was imminent we implemented our carefully crafted plan. Beth, Hershel, Carl, Carol, and Myself would go to the outer edge of the forest and hide there. Glenn and Maggie would be ready to drive the Governor’s men off. I had somehow managed to earn the group’s trust after a few days of helping out. Before my group left the prison Rick pulled me aside.

“Look out for them ok?” Rick put a trusting hand on my shoulder.

“I will Rick.” I nodded to him.

Hershel loaded one of our cars, Beth climbed into the driver’s seat and Carl and I sat in the backseat.

The scenery surrounding us changed. The tall grass and weeds turned into trees and bushes. Soon we were on the outer perimeter of the prison. We could plainly see it, but our little alcove was hidden from sight. The car stopped and we began to step out of the vehicle. A walker began limping over to us. I drew the knife from my hip. I let it close the distance, and then stuck my foot through its leg, it began to fall down and I plunged the knife deep into it’s skull. I drew it out and wiped it’s blade along the ripped clothing of the walker. After that our little hideout didn’t change.

Suddenly, the rev of engines sounded in my ears. I turned toward the main gate and the trucks drove right into the courtyard. The trucks unloaded and a dozen men all armed with guns began unloading them into the walkers shuffling through. They crept into the prison’s yard and then into one of the main buildings. A few minutes later I could hear gunshots from the tombs. Then the group stormed out of the building. Glenn and Maggie in riot gear shot up from their hiding places and fired towards the crowd. After a few minutes the Governor’s group loaded into their trucks and drove away.

“They did it,” I smiled at Carl.

“It’s not over yet,” he said.

“We don’t go back until we get the all clear from Rick,” Hershel explained.

“Got it.” I began pacing around in a circle.

A twig snapped behind me. A boy about my age, maybe a few years older, came running back towards the Prison. I don’t think he saw us, so Carl and I stepped out from behind the car and pointed our guns at him.

“Drop it,” Carl ordered.

“Sure, here.” The boy willingly handed his shotgun to us.

I saw a familiar chilling stare coming from Carl. He was going to kill the boy. I watched as his finger began to twitch. Before he pulled the trigger, I grabbed the gun out of his hand. He looked at me like I was crazy. I gave him a crazy look in return.

I turned back to the boy. “Are there any more of you?” 

“No,” he looked at the ground, tears started welling in his eyes. “He killed everyone. He turned his gun on us and just killed everyone.”

“I’m sorry,” Hershel said.

“I can show you where he did it if you don’t believe it,” He offered.

“It’s fine,” I turned back to Hershel, “We need to tell Rick.”

Hershel picked up a Walkie-Talkie. “Rick. Rick come in.”

I heard his voice go through the radio. Hershel and him had a small exchange before he pocketed the radio.

“Rick, Daryl and Michonne are going to follow the road and make sure it’s safe, but we can go back.” Hershel tossed me a bundle of rope.

“I’m sorry, but we need to tie you up while you’re in the car.” I motioned for him to turn around.

“I get it,” He stepped forward and put his hands in front of him. I wrapped the rope around his wrists and tightened it.

We loaded into the car. Hershel and Beth in the front, and Carl, the boy, and I in the back. We drove back into the prison’s courtyard and got back out of the car. Glenn and Maggie were still in riot gear with their helmets removed. Carol had come back into the prison. Everyone except for the trio we sent out was back and weighing what to do with the kid. Hershel reasoned with Glenn and Maggie, while I pulled Carl aside.

“Were you gonna kill him?” I asked.

“Yes, no. I don’t know,” Carl slumped over on one of the benches, “Things have been hard since my Mom died. I’ve been angrier and I don’t know why.”

I reached my arm over his shoulders and pulled him close. “I know how you feel.When I lost my parents I felt like I wanted to just die. But then I realized that that’s not what my parents would want me to do. So that’s what I did, I ran, right into you, right into this.”

He turned and pulled me into a tight embrace. “Thanks, Thomas.”

“No problem,” I squeezed a little tighter.

After a few moments of holding him, I got up and went over to decide what we’re going to do with the prisoner. They decided to take him in, just like me. I walked over to him with my knife. I cut the ropes around his hands.

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“I’m Jody,” he said.

“Thomas,” I offered my hand.

He took it gladly and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you.”

A big grey bus pulled into the yard and Rick got off of it with Michonne. They began unloading dozens of people off of the bus and into the prison building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is when things really start picking up. The Governor will be a thorn for just a little bit longer.


	4. Too Far Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 6 months have passed. After his attack on the prison, the Governor disappeared. Some kind of disease came sweeping through the Prison, but that was the least of our problems.

It’s been about 6 months since we took Jody in, along with most of Woodbury. I had gotten used to being a part of the group. Carl and I had formed a friendship. Unfortunately, Jody died at an old Big Spot after he was bitten. Another kid Patrick had been patient zero for a sickness that spread like wildfire. Then I went with Daryl, Michonne, Tyreese and Bob to a veterinary college to get medicines, now most of anyone who had it has recovered or rapidly started the path to recovery, including Glenn, Hershel and Tyreese’s sister Sasha. However when we came back, we got news of something devastating. Carol had killed two of our own to try to prevent the spread of this disease. I don’t know how Daryl’s going to take it.

I was walking around the prison looking for Carl. I found him sitting towards the back side of the main yard cleaning his gun.

“Hey,” I sat next to him. 

“How was the college?” He asked me.

“Eventful,” I sighed. “There was a herd inside of it, we barely made it out.”

“I’m glad you did,” Carl said. He looked me in the eyes and smiled. “Anyone ever told you, you have nice eyes?”

“Yeah, I have my dad’s eyes.” I looked into his eyes. Time stopped as we just stared at each other.

We were pulled out of our trance by a large explosion. Carl and I ran towards the source of it. One of the guard towers next to the gate was in flames as pieces of it started falling to the ground around the pile of rubble.

“Get back!” Rick yelled.

Him, Tyreese, and Daryl had also come running out of C block. We ran up to the fence, and my stomach sunk to my feet. Standing on the outside of the fence, was the Governor standing on a tank surrounded by a bunch of cars, with people. They were well armed.

“Rick! Come down here. We need to talk,” He called.

Rick nodded at us. He hugged Carl quickly. Then he was walking down the path in the yard. I lost what he was saying.

Daryl came up behind me, handing me a rifle. I took it. I lined up next to Carl. A few seconds passed, and the Governor took Hershel and Michonne out of the back of one of the cars. He took Michonne’s sword and put it up against Hershel’s neck. I heard crying next to me, I didn’t need to look to know it was Beth and Maggie crying at the sight of their father in the Governor’s hands. I could tell Rick was trying to reason with him. The Governor lowered the blade away from Hershel’s neck for a moment, before he swung and the blade went through the side of his neck.

“NO!” Rick pulled his pistol and shot the Governor in the arm.

I heard gunshots all around me, and soon I joined in shooting down at the invaders. The tank rolled through the fences and then the cars came. I began moving to get a better shot. Another shot from the tank blasted next to me.

I must have blacked out, because when I came too, I was behind a load of barrels. I peeked over the top of them and there was still fighting going on around me. I saw Carl running away from walkers. Sasha, Bob and Maggie were gone and the bus had disappeared. I tried to run towards Carl but I was pushed into the walkway between the fences by a half dozen dead ones. I killed the first one and pushed it back away from me. In the field behind me a shot rang out. One of the Governor’s men had killed him. I saw Michonne running through the field killing the dead all around her. She made her way to where I was.

“Michonne!” I called, “We need to go.”

I joined her and we ran into the forest away from the prison for good.

Her and I ran through the woods and killed walkers as we went. We found a little old shack and barricaded ourselves inside.

“They’re all gone. Carl’s dead,” tears started to well in my eyes.

“Did you see it happen?” Michonne asked. She sat next to me and wrapped her arm over my shoulder and pulled me close.

I shook my head.

“Then it didn’t happen.” Michonne seemed as if she was trying to convince herself along with me, “Unless we see it, or someone else did, Carl is still alive.”

“I want to find them, all of them.” I cried into Michonne’s shoulder.

“We will,” Michonne rubbed my shoulder. 

“I’m glad I found Andrea that day. If I hadn’t, I don’t think I’d ever have found you.” Michonne looked me in the eyes, and wiped the tears from my eyes. 

“I’m glad too.”

She got up and looked out the window.

“Get some rest,” Michonne said, “We’ll start looking for our people in a couple of hours.”

I moved towards a cot in the corner. I took my gun out of my holster and put it on the table next to me, along with my hatchet and knife. I layed down on my side facing towards the room. I closed my eyes, and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The group is in shambles. Thomas got out with Michonne, but they don't know where anyone else is. Will they find them before it's too late?


	5. After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas and Michonne got out of the prison together, but they still have friends and family to find.

Michonne woke me up a few hours later. I felt rested, even though I had a grumble in my stomach. Michonne hadn’t slept, but she was sitting in front of the door, sword drawn, ready to kill anything that came through it. I got up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, put the weapons back on my person and walked over to her.

“How did you sleep?” she asked.

“I barely got any,” I said, “Kept thinking about everyone at the prison.”

“Yeah, me too,” Michonne sheathed her sword and strung it over her shoulder.

We opened the door and walked towards the road. There were footprints in the mud. I looked towards her and she motioned that we follow them. We followed the tracks to a little group of shops. We went inside one of them. At our feet was a dead walker with wet blood dripping out of it’s head.

“The blood is still wet. This happened today,” I said.

“We might be right behind them,” she said.

“Let’s go then.”

We continued down the road until we reached a neighborhood. And Michonne and I began searching the houses. We came to the door of the first house and looked inside. Rick Grimes was lying unconscious on a couch pushed up against the door. Michonne and I tried to open the door, but before we could open the door, we heard gunshots followed by yelling and groans.

“Sounds like Carl,” Michonne looked at me. 

I jumped off the porch, and started moving towards the shots, “Stay with Rick I’ll get him.”

I ran towards the shots. Carl was on the ground with walkers on top of him. I rushed to help him.

“Duck!” I swung my hatchet down into the scalp of the walker. I pulled my weapon out of it’s head and pulled it off of him.

Carl got back to his feet and keeled over to vomit. After he evacuated the contents of his stomach he saw me standing there. He shot back upwards and launched himself at me in a warm embrace.

“I thought you were dead,” He said.

“As you can see, I’m not.” I held his embrace.

He let go, and he had blood on his face. He took off his overshirt and wiped some of the blood off. 

“Well, how do I look?” He asked.

“You’ve looked worse.” I wiped the other drops of blood off of his face with my thumb and then rubbed the blood off onto his dirty shirt.

“Did you get out alone?” he asked me.

“No,” I shook my head, “Michonne is with me.”

He looked at me excited, and booked it back towards the house. When we got there Michonne was inside and Rick was awake talking to her.

Carl and I went through the back door.

“What happened?” Rick asked.

“I was trying to lure walkers away, but I didn’t see the one behind me.” Carl looked at the floor.

“Bit?” Rick asked.

“No, I got them,” I said.

“Good,” Rick said.

“We don’t have a lot of food,” Michonne said.

“Carl and I could search the nearby houses for food?” I suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” Michonne said.

“There’s a few hours of daylight left, get going,” Rick said.

We pushed the couch out of the way and opened the door. We walked outside onto the front porch. 

“We’ll be back in two hours,” Carl said to them.

“Be safe,” Rick said.

“We will,” I nodded at him.

Carl and I walked towards the nearest house. We tried the front door but it was locked. Carl motioned for me to back up, but succeeded in nothing but knocking the wind out of himself. I tried a different approach. I moved up closer to the door with my hatchet in my hand. I took the hatchet and slammed the blade into the door near the deadbolt. I then backed up and kicked at the mark. The door swung open, much to my own satisfaction.

“I was going to try that next,” Carl says.

“Sure you were,” I smiled.

On the table in the front entry was a cup of pens, so I grabbed it and shook it making a lot of noise. We waited a few minutes. Nothing. After that we moved towards the kitchen. It was mostly full with a bunch of cans and boxes of food and cereal. I turned and leaned against the counter. Carl put our haul on the kitchen table. It was a good one. I could tell Carl was looking above me and he just started smiling.

“What?” I got off the counter to turn and look at our prize.

On top of the cabinet was a 112 ounce can of pudding. I started laughing. Carl helped me onto the counter and I retrieved the pudding. We began searching the entire kitchen until we found spoons. We opened the can and began chowing down. Minutes later the can was empty and my stomach was filled with chocolate pudding.

We slumped onto the couch of the house, and laughed at the riches the day had brought. I could feel the pudding in the bottom of my gut. I felt something rising from the pits of my stomach. I opened my mouth and let out a massive belch. Carl looked at me shocked, he gave a look of contemplation and let out a louder belch. He let his body fall back against the back of the couch. He stared at me for a few moments. I thought about closing the distance, it would be so easy, but I didn’t know how he felt. I thought he wanted it too, but I wasn’t sure. I started to close the gap between our faces. As the distance closed, I felt his breath on my face. 

Before we could fully close the gap, a walker stumbled out of nowhere and tore us from that moment. I grabbed it and flipped it over the couch. I grabbed my knife and plunged my blade into it’s temple and pulled it out.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I wanted that moment to last forever, but unfortunately, the world had other plans.

“We should take what we have and get back,” he said. I could feel the tension in his voice. He wanted what almost happened to happen, but it didn’t.

“Good idea.” I searched the kitchen for bags and when I found them, I loaded the cans into the bags and left the house behind.

We were back at the house within a few minutes and Michonne and Rick opened the door for us. It got darker outside faster than I expected. Carl had taken the room that clearly belonged to a teenager, Rick took the master bedroom and Michonne and I stayed on the ground level to keep watch until we would switch.

“Michonne?” I sat on the couch next to her.

“Yeah?” she asked.

“I think I’m gay,” I muttered.

“What?” she said.

“I think I’m g-,” she cut me off.

“I heard the first time,” she said, “How did you figure that out?”

“I don’t know, I think I’ve always been this way,” I explained. I was waiting for a bad reaction, but all she did was put her hand on my shoulder.

“Thank you for telling me,” Michonne said. “This doesn’t change anything.”

I pulled her into a hug. She quickly returned it. It took the end of the world and the destruction of the prison to find someone who finally accepted me for me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Carl and Thomas are reunited after a brief separation. They bond over a can of chocolate pudding and almost kiss. But the walker in the house had another idea. Thomas comes out to Michonne, what a sweet moment.


	6. Claimed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rick is slowly recovering from his fight with the Governor. Thomas, Michonne, and Carl go out searching for more supplies, but there's a new threat to deal with.

I slept for half of the night after Michonne and I were done with our watch. At about four in the morning, it was my turn to keep watch again. Carl woke me up. Rick had given him his gun since his was empty. He sat on the couch blocking the door.

“How’d you sleep?” I asked him.

“For the few hours I actually got, it was good. I think that pudding put me to sleep,” Carl laughed.

“Definitely worked on me,” I said.

I picked up a book off the floor and adjusted to the dim morning light framing the windows in front of us. 

“What are you doing?” Carl asked me with a questioning look on his face.

“Reading. You should try it sometime, with something other than comic books,” I laughed.

“I read.” Carl gave a fake offended look to me. He flipped the front of the book to see what it was. “Just not Romeo and Juliet.”

“Hey. Romeo and Juliet is a classic Shakespeare play.” I said. “I started reading it in school right before the start, and I never finished it.”

“You like these kinds of things?” Carl asked.

“Yeah,” I said, “I remember at my old house that I used to have a whole collection of movie musicals. Wizard of Oz, Singing in The Rain, Beauty and The Beast.”

“I used to hate musicals,” Carl admitted, “My mom always used to make me watch them all the time with her friend’s son.”

“Well, I guess we won’t bond over those,” I laughed.

“We have plenty to bond over,” Carl reasoned, “I mean we might be the only kids left alive in this world.” 

His voice dropped. He didn’t have to say it, but I knew his thoughts dwelled on Judith. He told me that when him and Rick left the prison, they found Judith’s carrier covered in blood. I knew that there might have been a possibility that someone like Tyreese or Daryl grabbed her, but I don’t know.

“I’m going to go check the perimeter.”

Before I could object Carl was off the couch and marching off into a different part of the house by himself. I slumped over, knowing that he needed time hell, I needed time.

I sat there for a couple of hours. Once the sun was up, Rick and Michonne were up with it. Michonne, Carl, and I sat at the table in the kitchen. It was awkward silence as we poured our bowls of stale cereal. Michonne finally broke the quiet.

“I wish I had some soy milk,” She said.

“Ew,” Carl said.

“Not ew,” Michonne acted offended, “Have you ever tried it?”

“Back in fourth grade, my best friend was allergic to dairy so he always brought all of this soy stuff to lunch, I tried it once,” Carl said.

“And?” Michonne asked.

“I threw up,” Carl said.

“Yeah right,” Michonne said.

“I almost did,” Carl added, “I was like, ugh.” He made the motions of throwing up and I started laughing.

That little exchange definitely did it’s job getting rid of the tension lingering in the air. I finished my bowl of cereal and left my bowl in the sink. Rick pulled me aside to talk privately.

“Thank you,” Rick said, “I haven’t heard Carl laugh in days. It seems like you and Michonne know how to get him to smile. You know I can’t be his dad and his best friend, so I’m glad you have taken that role.”

“It’s no problem Rick,” I smiled, “I might have lost my family before I met you all, but I gained one in the process. You’ve become like my father Rick, and I care about Carl a lot.”

“I know,” Rick put his hand on my shoulder, “I’ve seen the way you look at him. You look out for him and watch his back. I really appreciate that.”

“You don’t care?” I asked.

“About what?” Rick questioned, “The fact that you care about my son and want to look out for him and keep him safe? Absolutely not. My parents always taught me that love, in all forms, is worth fighting for.”

“Thank you.” I could tell that I had a tear forming in my eye.

Rick pulled me into his embrace. I happily accepted it. 

“You’re part of my family now,” Rick said.

We held that for a few moments before he let go. “Go get him.”

I smiled at Rick, and turned to find Carl. He was in the teenagers room upstairs. I stood in the hallway, figuring out what I was going to say, before I knocked on the door. Carl had changed his shirt into a black T-shirt with a faded blue jacket over the top.

I turned around and closed the door. I marched right up to him and put my hand in the crook of his neck.

“What are you doing?” He asked me, confused.

“Something I should’ve done yesterday.” I stepped forward and firmly pressed my lips into his.

There was a moment of shock, from him, but then he melted into it. I felt his hands on the back of my neck and he pulled me close. I was the first to let go.

He stared at me for a few minutes until he started smiling.

“Took you long enough,” he said.

“Shut up.” I leaned in and kissed him again. 

Michonne came into the room and cleared her throat. “Hope I’m not interrupting.” She said with a smile.

“It’s ok, we weren’t doing anything,” Carl stepped away from me and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Your dad and I were talking about going out to look for more supplies.”

“That’s a good idea,” Carl said. He stood up from the edge of the bed and went over to the table where his knife and belt were resting. 

“I don’t think Rick should go anywhere for a while, he’s still healing from the Governor,” I said.

“Ok, the three of us will go, and Dad can stay here,” Carl suggested.

“Sounds good,” I said.

“Perfect,” Michonne said, “Rick can get some rest and we can get supplies.”

We left the house, Rick gave Carl his gun and we left the house.

“It’s a little after 8 right now,” Rick said.

“We’ll be back by noon,” I said.

“Be back by noon,” Rick hugged Carl and we were off.

Michonne led the way and Carl and I stood back. We cleared the first house with relative ease. I had a few good finds. A couple of candy bars but not much else.

“Find anything good?” Michonne asked. “Comic books, crazy cheese?”

“What?” Carl asked.

Michonne whipped out a can of spray cheese. “Bam, crazy cheese.”

Carl rolled his eyes playfully and kept walking. Michonne sprayed some in her mouth and started acting like a walker. I chuckled at the sight. Carl however didn’t have a reaction, so she ate what was in her mouth and wiped the rest off.

“I’m sorry,” Michonne said, “I was never very good at making boys your age laugh.”

“I was laughing, on the inside,” Carl asked.

Michonne banged on the door of the house in front of us. “Toddlers happen to find me extremely funny, you know two, three year olds.”

“What do you mean toddlers,” I asked.

“I had a three year old son who found me extremely funny,” Michonne admitted. She opened the door and went inside.

“Why didn’t you ever tell us you had a kid?” Carl asked, “What was his name? Did you have any others? Were you married?”

“Okay,” Michonne turned and faced us, “I’ll answer one question at a time, one room at a time. And only after we’ve cleared it.”

Carl and I moved around the room looking for anything we could use. I checked a couple of the desk drawers and found a pack of AA batteries. Carl came up short.

“What was your son’s name?” I asked.

“I said after,” Michonne walked around with her hands behind her back.

“Well, these are technically two separate rooms and we already cleared that one,” Carl reasoned, with a chuckle.

“His name was Andre Anthony,” Michonne said, casually walking past a cabinet. “Make sure there isn’t a box of cookies hiding in there.” 

“Did you have any others?” Carl asked.

“Rules of the game my friend.” Michonne stopped to look at a picture on the wall.

We looked around the room for a minute. It was empty.

“So, did you?” Carl asked.

“No, one was enough for me,” Michonne smiled at the memory, “And Andre was a handful, like you two.”

We stepped into a long hallway. “Does this hallway count as room?” 

“If you can find something we can use.” Michonne just leisurely walked past me, obviously avoiding doing the work.

I walked over and picked up a picture frame, “Does this count?”

“Technically, yes,” She said, taking the painting from me.

“When did it happen?” I asked.

“It happened after everything happened.” Michonne looked at the floor, obviously upset.

“Maybe Isabelle, Judith and Andre are together somewhere.” I put my hand on her shoulder.

I split from her and joined Carl in another room. “Find anything good?”

“Nope, just the same usual stuff,” Carl said.

“Are we going to talk about what happened earlier?” I asked him.

“Yeah,” Carl said, “I like you, and you like me.”

“So does that make us boyfriends?” I asked him.

“I guess it does.” Carl walked over to me and lifted the rim of his hat to kiss me.

We both turned our head in unison when we heard something crash back out in the hallway. Michonne looked like she had seen a ghost.

“What is it?” Carl asked. He glanced at the sign on the door. “There’s a baby in there?”

“It was a dog.” Michonne straightened herself up. “Come on, it’s almost noon, you’re dad will worry if we’re late.”

We left the house and started to head back to our haven. Rick caught us half-way and motioned for us to run.

We ran until our house was out of sight. We kept walking through the woods and we came to a train track. On one set of them was a train car. holding a banner reading. ‘Terminus, Sanctuary for All, Community for All.’

Michonne and I looked at each other. We had heard about Terminus on the radio on the way to the veterinary college.

“What do you think?” Michonne asked Rick.

“Let’s go,” Rick said, “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thomas and Carl kissed. I smiled so hard while writing that. In a world where people are hard to find, I'm glad the two of them found each other. Rick catches the trio before they get back to the house, and they find a sign to a place called Terminus. Maybe that's where everyone else is.


	7. A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terminus is in sight, but it is going to be the sanctuary the signs promise? The Claimers are hot on the tail of the group. Familiar faces and new enemies are in store for the quartet of survivors.

We have kept moving since that house. Food was getting harder and harder to find, and I was getting hungrier and hungrier. Carl and I had told Rick and Michonne about us, and they were fine. As we were moving we found an abandoned car and decided it would be a good place to make camp.

Carl and I had decided to sleep in the backseat of the car and fell asleep. We used each other as pillows and it was nice feeling warmth in my heart again. When we woke up, that warmness turned to cold. There were a pair of men at either door holding knives. I glanced over the dashboard and saw that some men had Rick and Michonne at gunpoint. Another man moved to stop the men from killing them. I recognized the voice. It was rough, but it was gentle. Daryl.

I couldn’t really pay attention to what was happening around me, because the next thing I knew I was being pulled out of the car and shoved to the ground. I was doing my best to fight the man off of me, but he was too heavy. He flipped me onto my stomach and started undoing his belt. I was grabbing at the ground looking for a weapon or something I could use to fight him off. I managed to grab a chunk of blacktop off the road and bashed it into the head of the man on top of me. Michonne had shot the man who was holding her, and the man who was holding Rick had a piece of his neck missing and he was bleeding on the street. I grabbed the knife from my hip and slit my attacker's stomach open. I pulled the blade out and dug it into his cranium. Michonne had dispatched the remaining men. Carl’s attacker stood up and grabbed him. I drew my hatchet from the ground nearby. He held Carl at a knife blade. I turned to see Rick disheveled and covered in blood. 

“He’s mine,” Rick snarled. He took the knife off of one of the men and started walking towards him with a menacing stare.

“Stay back,” the attacker shoved Carl away and held his knife defensively in front of him.

I rushed over to Carl and wrapped him in my arms. I could feel his uncontrolled sobs going into my shirt. I watched as Rick ripped the knife up the man’s chest and continuously stabbed the man with it.

After the carnage that had happened, I put Carl back in the car and went with Daryl and Rick to clear the bodies from the road. After the job was done, I took Carl head in my lap in the back of the car. It was uneasy but he fell asleep. Me following his lead soon after. 

I must have been dreaming. I opened my eyes and sitting in front of me was everyone that I had lost. My mom, dad, Isabelle, Glenn, Maggie, Beth, Hershel, Carol, Tyreese, Sasha, Bob and the list goes on. They didn’t say anything, they just stood in front of me with warm smiles on their faces. They opened their mouths to speak.

“Wake up,” they said in unison.

I opened my eyes again, and was back in the car. Carl was still fast asleep on my lap. I could hear Rick and Daryl talking outside and Michonne was asleep in the front seat. Rick got himself cleaned up and we kept moving towards our new Sanctuary. We followed the tracks for a while, until Rick told us to split off and go through the forest. Rick cut a symbol into a tree and buried the bag of weapons we collected from those men.

“Just in case,” he said. He took his Colt Python out of his holster and put it in the bag, and switched it with one of the men’s pistol’s.

We got over to the outside of the Terminus fence. It was quiet, and there were no people. I split off with Daryl to get a better look at any surprises these people would have for us. It was kind of eerie. It was defended with this fence, but I didn’t want to find out the arsenal these people had.

Rick motioned us back and we went over the fence. I followed Rick’s lead as he led us into a building. 

“Terminus--those who arrive survive. Follow the tracks to the point where all lines intersect. There are maps at the crossings to help guide you with your journey. Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive survive. Terminus, sanctuary for all.” A woman sat in front of a PA system.

“Hello?” Rick walked right in.

One of the men looked up, “Well I bet Albert is on perimeter watch. You here to rob us?”

“No.” Rick put his gun away, “We wanted to see you before you saw us.”

“Makes sense,” he said, “Usually we do this where the tracks meet. Welcome to Terminus. I’m Gareth. Looks like you’ve been on the road for a good bit.”

“We have,” Rick said, “I’m Rick, That’s Carl, Daryl, Michonne and Thomas.”  
“You’re nervous, I get it. We were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary. That what you’re here for?” Gareth asked

“Yes,” Rick answered.

“Good. You found it.” He motioned to one of the guys behind him, “Hey, Alex. This isn’t as pretty as the front. We got nothing to hide, but the welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer. Alex will take you, ask a few questions. Uh, but first, we need to see everyone’s weapons. If you could just lay them down in front of you.”

“All right,” Rick said. He started taking his gun and knife out to put on the floor.

“I’m sure you understand.”

“Yes, I do.” Rick gave us a nod to do the same thing.

I took my hatchet off my belt and my knife off from my hip. Lastly, I put my pistol on the ground in front of me. Alex came over and patted me down.

“I’d hate to see the other guy,” He said, clearly noticing the small cuts and scrapes on my face.

“You would.” 

“They deserve it?” he asked.

“Yes,” Carl answered for me.

I recollected my weapons from the ground in front of me.

“Just so you know, we aren’t those kind of people, but we aren’t stupid either. And you shouldn’t be stupid enough to try anything stupid. As long as everyone’s clear on that, we shouldn't have any problems. Just solutions,” Gareth said.

“Okay,” Rick said.

“Follow me.” Alex led us out into the courtyard. 

Michonne asked him questions. How long had Terminus on the map? Why do they take people in? 

Rick had the suspicious look on his face. The woman standing in front of the grill handed me a plate with some type of meat on it. He rushed past me and hit the plate to the ground. He pulled his gun out and grabbed Hershel’s watch from Alex’s pocket.

“Where the hell did you get this watch?” Rick asked.

Simultaneously Carl, Michonne, Daryl, and I had our weapons at the ready.

“You want answers? You want anything else? You get ‘em when you put down the gun.” Alex said. Rick had him in a headlock with his gun pushed into his temple.

“I see your man on the roof with a sniper rifle,” Rick directed him around at the roof. “How good’s his aim?”

“Don’t do anything!” Alex yelled, “I have this. You just put it down. You put it down.”

The man on the roof lowered his rifle and stepped backwards. I trained my gun on a set of the men behind me.

“You want to listen to me. There’s a lot of us,” Alex sounded terrified.

“Where did you get the watch?” Rick continued.

“I got it off a dead one. Didn’t think he’d need it.” 

“What about the riot gear? The poncho.” Rick motioned to the other people in the courtyard. It was Daryl’s poncho and riot gear from the prison.

“We got the riot gear from a dead cop,” Gareth appeared behind me. I turned and pointed my gun at him. “Found the poncho on a clothesline.”

“Gareth we can wait,” Alex reasoned.

“Shut up Alex,” Gareth warned.

“You talk to me.” Rick turned to face him, still holding Alex hostage.

“What’s there left to say?” Gareth asked, “Rick, what do you want?”

“Where are our people?” Rick asked.

I heard shots from above me. Alex was on the ground bleeding.

“Go!” Rick yelled.

We ran through the compound. They were shooting at our feet, leading us someplace. We got outside another one of the buildings, but before we could get to the fence we were surrounded by armed men.

“Drop your weapons now!” Gareth ordered. We did as instructed. “Ringleader, go to your left. The train car, go. You do what we say, the boy goes with you. Anything else, he dies and you end up in there anyway. Now the archer. Now the samurai. Now the viking. Stand at the door, ringleader, archer, samurai, viking, in that order.”

I walked over to join them in the line in front of the train car.

“My son!” Rick yelled.

“Go kid,” Gareth directed. “Ringleader, open the door and go in.” 

“I’ll go in with him.” 

“Don’t make us kill him now.” Gareth stood on the roof on the far side of the courtyard.

Rick opened the door and the four of us stepped in. Carl followed soon after. One of the guards locked the door and we were trapped inside. I grabbed Carl and kissed him.

“Rick?” a familiar voice said from the other side of the car. Glenn stepped into what little light was in the car.

Maggie stepped into it behind him, followed by Sasha, Bob, a man with red hair and a mustache, a man with a mullet, a woman wearing a tattered baseball cap, and one of the women that attacked the prison with the Governor.

“You’re here?” Rick questioned, “You’re here.”

I looked suspiciously at the other people behind them. 

“They’re our friends,” Maggie said, “They helped save us.”

“Yeah,” Daryl said, “Now they’re friends of ours. For however long that’ll be.”

Rick stepped into the light around the entrance to the train car. “They’re gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out.”

The man with red hair named Abraham stepped forward. “Find out what?”

“They’re fucking with the wrong people.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Group is back together again. Terminus turned out to be a horrible place. Who knew?


	8. No Sanctuary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terminus isn't such a hospitable place as the signs say. Desperate for a way out, the group pray for a way out of their prison.

We used basically everything we could find in our 6 by 12 box car. I was busy using my shoe lace to take a chunk of wood off the side of one of the pillars. We were preparing to attack whoever opened that door and came walking in. While each and every one of us was digging away at the floor or scraping a belt buckle to make weapons, we caught each other up on the events that happened to each of us after the prison. How Glenn had been trapped at the prison and met Tara, a brunette woman who unfortunately was on the wrong side of the Governor’s invasion force, and running into Sergeant Abraham Ford, Doctor Eugene Porter and Rosita Espinosa. How they were trapped in a collapsed train tunnel and were rescued by Bob, Maggie, and Sasha, and how Daryl got out with Beth, but she was taken alive by a group of people driving cars with white crosses.

“We got four of them pricks coming,” Daryl said, the edge of the door outlining his face with light.

“You know what to do,” Rick stood up with one of his shivs. “Go for their eyes, then their throat’s.”

I stood in front of Carl and Maggie.

“Put your backs against the walls on either side of the car now!” I heard a man yell from outside the car.

A roof hatch opened and a canister dropped into the car.

“Move!” Abraham yelled.

The canister exploded with a cloud of smoke. I got disoriented but the next thing I knew, I was on the ground outside the car being restrained with zip ties. They had taken me, Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and Bob.

I was dragged into one of the buildings and put in front of a food trough. I took in my surroundings. It was a large building, in one of the corners two men wearing gloves and aprons were cutting something open with a power saw. There were a few doors, but it was mostly empty. I was lined up between my people and another group of 4.

Gareth walked in with a notepad, “Shot count?”

“38.” One of them behind me hit one from the other group with a baseball bat, and they slit his throat, leaving him to bleed out into the trough.

“Your shot count?” Gareth asked the other.

“Oh shit, sorry man.” He continued his job.

“When you’re done here go back to your post and count the shells.”

“Lemme talk to you for a minute,” Bob said, muffled by a gag he had on.

“Five from A, four from D?” Gareth wrote them down.

“Lemme talk to you for a minute,” Bob continued. Gareth kneeled down and removed his gag.

“We have a man that can stop this,” Bob begged, “Take us to DC and we can go back.”

“Can’t go back Bob.” Gareth put his gag back on and went over to Rick, “My spotters saw you go into the woods with a bag, and come out without it. What was in it? I’m curious, it was a big bag.”

“Take me out there and I’ll show you,” Rick threatened. 

“That’s not going to happen,” Gareth took his knife off his belt and pulled Bob forward towards the blade, “This might.”

“There’s guns in it,” Rick admitted, “AK-47, .44 Magnum, automatic weapons, nightscope, a compound bow, and machete with a red handle. That’s what I’m going to use to kill you.”

“Thanks.” Gareth gagged him.

“Take care of them and clean up,” Gareth directed, “Now’s the time we can get messy, but we need to dial everything back in by sundown.”

A massive explosion knocked me over on top of Glenn. 

“Stay here,” Gareth ordered, “Stay here until I know what’s happening!”

Gareth disappeared through one of the doors. 

“So we just going to stand here?” One of the men said.

“We got a job to do.” He killed the last man next to me.

“You there Gareth?” he said.

“You smell the smoke? You hear the shots, he could be dead.” He was frantic and caught him out of the corner of my eye. “Hell this whole place could be going up.”

“Hey!” the other man said, “Look at me.”

All I heard was a stab and screaming. Before I knew what happened Rick had cut me hands and feet free. 

“If they got problems, we got a chance.” I picked up one of the knives off a nearby table and put it in my sheath. I then decided on a machete to fight our way out of here.

“Sounded like a bomb.” Glenn armed himself.

“Sounds like a damn war.” Daryl picked up a few more weapons.

“The hell are these people,” Bob asked.

“They ain’t people.” Daryl walked over to one of the dead men on the floor to stop the reanimation. 

“Let him turn,” Rick said, “You cross any of these people, you kill em.”

We ran through the alleyways between the buildings. Rick had managed to take a rifle from one of the Terminus people and killed them. We fought our way through the waves of walkers to the train car. Rick opened the door and led the group towards the fence. Carl was fighting off a walker, so I spun on my foot and sent my machete through it’s head.

I went over the fence with Carl and we got away from there fast.

“The hell are we still around here for?” Abraham asked.

“Guns.” Rick retrieved the bag with our arsenal and handed me a pistol to put in my holster. “We go along the fences with the rifles and kill the rest.”

“What?” I asked.

“They don’t get to live,” Rick said.

“Rick, we got out of there.” Glenn stepped up to me. “It’s over.”

“It isn’t over until they’re all dead,” Rick said.

“The hell it isn’t,” Rosita yelled, “That place is on fire, filled with walkers.”

“I’m not dicking around with this crap,” Abraham said.

“Rick?” Maggie said, “The fences are down, they’ll run or die.”

A twig behind me snapped. I turned and saw a face I thought I’d never see again. Carol walked up to us. Daryl ran past me and engulfed her into his embrace. He let go. Carol strung something off her shoulder and handed him his crossbow.

“You have to come with me,” Carol said.

She led us onto a road. We followed it for a while until we reached a small shack. A figure opened the door and stepped out holding a baby.

It was Tyreese carrying Judith. I started tearing up and ran after Sasha, Carl and Rick towards them. The Grimes and Williams families were reunited once again, along with our group being back to full strength. We walked back through the wood, and came across one of the Terminus signs. I kicked the sign over and destroyed it, turned and spat on it. We kept moving away from the pile of ashes that was Terminus into the strange new world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you couldn't tell already, action scenes aren't my strong suit. I do my best to keep the actions tight and fast as they would be in real life. Thank you for all the love y'all have given this so far!


	9. Four Walls and a Roof

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Terminus was grizzly. The group is looking for a new place to call safe for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!!!! GRAPHIC VIOLENCE!!!!

We were travelling for a couple of days when we found Father Gabriel struggling on top of a rock. He had no weapons, and he had no way to defend himself. He took us back to his church and from there I went with Glenn, Maggie, and Tara to search the nearby town for supplies. And he taught me the most valuable piece of scavenging advice I've ever gotten. There’s nothing left in this world that isn’t hidden, and low and behold he was right. We were searching through a house and in the back of a kids closet was a curved shortsword, about two feet long with a scabbard sitting on the floor. There was a leather belt hanging in the closet, so I used it to string the sword on my hip. Since there was no way I was getting my hatchet back, I bit the bullet and accepted the sword as my new primary weapon.

Since then, Bob, Daryl, and Carol have gone missing, and Gabriel isn’t nearly as innocent as he seemed. We were all on edge ready to tie him to a tree and let him get eaten. Carl and I sat in the back corner of the church, playing with Judith on the floor. She had gotten bigger since I saw her last.

“Hey,” Carl nudged me, “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, “I’m just really hoping we find them soon.”

“We will.”

Sasha burst through the door and started threatening Gabriel. I couldn’t pay attention to what she was saying, because Carl and I were trying our best to keep Judith calm. Gabriel started breaking down revealing a piece of his past. He always locked the doors to his church at night, so when the congregation came to seek haven after they bombed Atlanta, they couldn’t get inside. The dead had come for them, and Gabriel listened as they called his name while being torn apart.

“Hey!” Glenn said, looking out the window, “There’s someone outside. Lying in the grass.”

Sasha, Rick and Glenn ran outside. I heard yelling then gunshots. They carried someone inside. I got up from my spot to get a better look, and my heart dropped. Laying in Sasha’s lap was Bob, unconscious and missing one of his legs. He told us something that I wish I could unhear. Gareth and five others from Terminus had eaten his leg right in front of him.

“He’s in a lot of pain.” Sasha cradled his body.

“There are pills packets in the first aid kit,” Rosita said, moving to go get them.

“Save em.” Bob lowered the collar on his shirt. There was a small bite on his shoulder. It was too close to his body to amputate safely. I felt a single tear go down my face. Bob Stookey was going to die in less than a week.

“There’s a sofa in my office if that would be more comfortable,” Gabriel offered, “I know it’s much but-”

“Thank you,” Sasha said.

I helped move Bob into the office. I left Sasha alone with him. Carl had moved into the other room at the head of the church to sleep. I had set up a small palate from some blankets. He was laying on it staring at the ceiling. 

I took the pistol out of my holster and lay down next to him. Without saying a word, Carl leaned forward and kissed me. It was unexpected, but I knew he was doing it because you never know what could happen. Carl ended it and cuddled into my side.

“It’ll be okay.” I wrapped my arm around him and pulled him in close, “I’m going to be okay.”

He couldn’t let out another word before he just started sobbing into my chest. It wasn’t just because of Bob, it was just the events of the past few days spilling out all at once. I couldn’t do anything but console my crying partner. A few minutes later Tara opened the door clearly not doing ok.

“What’s wrong?” I sat up.

“I’m going with Abraham, Rosita, Eugene, Glenn and Maggie to DC to end this.”

“What?” I asked her, “We need your help with whoever’s out there.”

“I already promised Abraham,” Tara said, gathering her stuff.

Before I could speak again, she was gone, and the room was empty except for Carl, Judith and I again.

“What do you think will happen afterwards?” I asked.

“I guess it’ll become a new world,” Carl pulled me onto my back. “We should get some rest.”

“Goodnight,” I pressed my lips into his forehead.

I fell asleep and woke up to Rosita standing over us.

“Wake up,” Rosita shook us awake, “Gareth’s out there.”

My blood boiled at the sound of that name. That son of a bitch was still alive after we blew Terminus off the map.

“We have a plan to take them out, but we need to get ready.” 

“On it.” Carl and I got up in unison, grabbing our weapons and preparing for Rick’s master plan. 

About an hour later, I turned the lock to Gabriel’s office and sat back to back with Carl in front of the door. I was ready to kill every damn one of them. We waited for a few minutes, before the front door of the church creaked open. I drew my sword and Carl clicked the hammer of his gun and we trained our weapons on the door.

“Well, I guess you know we’re here, and we know you’re here. And we’re armed, So there’s really no point in hiding anymore.” Gareth’s voice echoed in the small church, “We’ve been watching you. We know who’s here. There’s Bob, unless you’ve put him out of his misery already, and Eugene, Rosita, Martin’s good friend Tyreese, Carl, Thomas, Judith. Rick and the rest walked out with a lot of your guns. Listen, we don’t know where you all are, but this isn’t a big place, so let’s just stop this now before things get more painful than they need to be.”

I raised my sword defensively in front of me, when I heard the doorknob jiggle.

“Look, you’re behind one of these two doors and we have more than enough firepower to take down both. Can’t imagine that’s what you all want.” Gareth paused for a moment, “How about the priest? Father, you help us wrap this up, we’ll let you walk away from this. Just open the door and you can go. You can take the baby with you. What do you say?”

Judith let out a loud whine and revealed our hiding place. “I don’t know, maybe we’ll keep the kid, I’m starting to like this girl.”“Alright,” Gareth said, “It’s your last chance to tell us you’re coming out.”  
“Are we done?” another male voice asked.

“We’ll hit the hinges,” Gareth ordered.

Before they knocked down the door two silenced gunshots went off inside the church.

“Put your guns on the floor.”

“Rick, we’ll fire right into that office so you lower your gun,” another shot went off and Gareth fell to his knees.

“Put your guns on the floor and kneel,” Rick said again.

“Do what he says,” Gareth grunted. “Martin there’s no choice here. “No point in begging right?” 

“No,” Rick said.

I stepped forward and opened the door. Rick was standing at the front of the church, Gareth was kneeling in front of him.

“Still you could have killed us when you came in, there had to be a reason for that,” Gareth said.

“We didn’t want to waste the bullets,” Rick said.

“We used to help people. We saved people.” Gareth was holding one of his hands, “Things changed. They came in and. After that… I know you’ve been out there, but I can see it. You don’t know what it’s like to be hungry. You don’t have to do this. We can walk away, and we will never cross paths again I promise you.”

“But you’ll cross someone’s path. You’d do this to anyone, right? Besides I already made you a promise.” Rick drew his red handled machete and started hacking away at Gareth. 

Carl came up behind me and watched the carnage. Rick was wailing away at Gareth’s corpse, and Sasha was repeatedly stabbing Martin in the neck. Rick stopped after a few seconds. 

“It could’ve been us.” Rick walked out and sheathed his machete.

Gabriel walked outside his office and was struck by the horror that occurred. “This is the Lord’s house.”

“No,” Maggie said, “It’s just four walls and a roof.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terminus is no longer a problem, but it looks like our group is splitting up once again. Can't they just stay together for more than 5 minutes.


End file.
